Mirror, Mirror
by IGotDaFeels
Summary: -Based off an RP with PaintingMornings, Spliced-Kitten, and kimchi121- -Also involves Planetary Moe- On the surface, there is Gakuen Hetalia, a place where countries gather and are taught by planets and moons. Below, there is a dark mirror that acts as a portal between two worlds. When the mirror resurfaces and the dark world is opened, the fate of the world is on the line.
1. Prologue

**And here is the prologue to Mirror, Mirror! If you bros don't know me or haven't read my other two fics, When the Clock Stops and When the Soul Dies, let me introduce myself! My name is IGotDaFeels, or just Feels, if you would prefer, and I'm a Hetalia freak/fanfiction writer hoping to become at least moderately popular here on the lovely world of Fanfiction :3**

**Now, without further ado: Mirror, Mirror!**

On the western coast of a large country, there was a town. A small town, ordinary, boring, and nondescript. Its largest source of income was the large metal-cutting factory just outside the borders, specializing in precious or rare elements. The population was small; only a little over a thousand resided in the dingy apartments and suburbs of that town. In fact, the school was the most interesting building in the entire town, not that the statement was saying much.

The school was called Gakuen Hetalia.

It was far from boring.

And as the inhabitants of the town went about their ordinary or not-so-ordinary lives, living from day to day, paycheck to paycheck, assignment to assignment, every single one was unaware that beneath the streets, a dangerous secret lay, shrouded by the veils of time and history until it was forgotten. Buried under rock and concrete and steel, safely hidden in its tunnels of bone, a dark mirror slept, dreaming of other times and different worlds, dreaming of the day that it would be awoken and used, to fulfill its purpose.

The mirror dreamt of the day it would finally be used as a bridge between worlds, through the nothingness, linking the world of light to one of shadow.

And on it slept.

"For fuck's sake, will you quit singing!?" Romano yelled at his brother, Italy, and his cousin, Milan, better known as Valentina. They were both dressed neatly in uniform and were humming along to the song blaring out from the taxi's speakers, breaking into song at the chorus. Romano, on the other hand, was in jeans and a dark red t-shirt, brown hair messily combed as he slouched in the seat, silent. (For the most part) Giving up, the South Italian simply covered his ears and stared determinedly out the window, refusing to look back at his relatives until the taxi pulled up at the front gates of Gakuen Hetalia. Only then did he glance back. "Alright, we saw it. Can we go now?"

Giggling, Valentina hopped out of the taxi and, running over to her cousin's side, yanked open the door, which caused Romano to promptly fall out onto the pavement. "Bastarda!" The enraged Italian yelled, beginning to flail as Valentina and Italy, ignoring their relative's thrashing, grabbed one of his hands and began to tow him towards the main door, leaving behind an extraordinarily confused taxi driver as they stumbled along their way to the first day at school.

Arctic was not having a good day. She flipped her shaggy, shoulder length white hair over her shoulder and glared at everybody that went by, tapping her fingers impatiently on her sketchbook as she sat on one of the steps leading to the school's front doors. _First, _she thought indignantly, _I have to deal with my freaking ice cap melting. Next, I have to sit out here in the heat, since none of the teachers were considerate enough to unlock the freaking doors even fifteen minutes before classes begin. And finally…. _She paused in her mental tirade. _The Italians aren't even here- _she hesitated as a trio of brunettes began making their way towards the school, two chattering happily to each other while the third was being dragged, quite a bit less happily, behind them.

_Hold that thought._

Standing and stretching, the personification of the Arctic tucked her sketchbook into her bag and began walking down the steps when she was suddenly and unexpectedly blindsided by a tall figure with a baggy top, jean shorts, and _oh god that's the most hideous hat I've ever seen in my life._

Antarctica was not having a good day. From waking up late to skipping breakfast to haphazardly throwing everything into her backpack and probably forgetting half of what she needed to having to use the first hat she found, which was a despicable red, yellow, and blue one with blockish patterns, to tuck her odd white-and-black hair up into, she was already of the opinion that her day couldn't get any worse.

Oh, how she was wrong.

After sprinting half a kilometer down the street from her apartment building, Antarctica just barely managed to catch her bus and climbed to the back, still panting, where she promptly sat down upon a wad of gum. Groaning inaudibly, the continent struggled for the entire bus ride to peel it off and failed miserably until, with a heave of her abnormal strength which only came with the status of being a continent, she yanked it off and threw it out the window, where it landed on the back of some unlucky dog. Sighing, Antarctica leaned back in her seat… Only to jolt upright when she realized that she had missed her stop.

And finally, to top off a perfectly horrible morning, after Antarctica jogged back to the school from the bus' next stop, she wasn't paying particularly close attention to where she was going and managed to run straight into someone, knocking them down and scattering their materials.

"OhmigoshI'msosorry!" She blurted out, crouching down to help gather up the books, but the stranger swatted away her hands and grumbled, "I can do it myself…"

A group of three brunettes ran up to them, and the only female chirped, "Arctic! Arcticarcticarctic I really need to know something but Feli doesn't know and Lovi won't tell me!"

"Call me freaking Romano, idiota" The one with the darkest hair growled as Arctic stood and faced the girl impatiently.

"Yeah? What is it, Val?"

Val stared at her for a few moments. "What's P.E?"

Arctic rolled her eyes and cast a quick glance towards Antarctica, who was standing awkwardly to the side, as if to say, 'See what I have to deal with here?'

Looking back towards Val, Antarctica watched as Arctic began to explain P.E while her mind whirred at a thousand thoughts a minute. _Her name's Arctic? And I'm Antarctica… Does that make us like sisters or something?_

Suddenly, she was glomped from behind. The third brunette had somehow snuck up on the continent and was now apparently trying to strangle her.

"Bella!" He chirped. "Tell me your name, bella! I'm Italy!"

"Um…" Antarctica fidgeted uncomfortably. "I'm Antarctica…? Big lump of ice and stone and penguins at the bottom of the planet?" She said, making the statement into a question.

Italy pulled back from the hug as Arctic walked over, what appeared to be a mostly friendly expression on her face. "So, you're Antarctica, eh? That kind of makes us like sisters!" She said with a grin before Italy nudged her aside with wide eyes.

"Do you like pasta?" He asked in a soft, almost reverential voice.

Antarctica nodded slowly and uncomfortably, almost terrified of what would happen if she said no. "Um… Yeah… I like pasta…"

Italy's vision cleared and he grinned inanely as Arctic shoved him to the side again. "Do you mind if I call you Tica? I'm sorry, but Antarctica's a bit of a mouthful… And besides, you seem like a Tica to me." She smiled.

Antarctica sighed, feeling herself begin to open up. "Seriously? Tica's the best that you can come up with? Well, if you like it, then I see no reason to stop you…"

"That's great-" Arctic began, but was interrupted as the high-pitched, whiny school bell rang, signalling the start of the day.

And so, the school year began, and the people on the surface laughed and loved and led their lives as the hands of time ticked forward; not a single minute same as the one before.

But under the rock and concrete and steel, in its tunnels of bone, the dark mirror slept on. Dreaming.

Waiting.

**Aaanndd… That isn't alarming at all :/**

**Well, there you have it! The prologue to my fic! I've introduced the most of the main cast here and some of the OCs, but be warned; there will be much more.**

**So, for a total cast, we'll have: Antarctica, Arctic, Valentina, Romano, and Italy, but there will also be Chicago, the Philippines, and America, along with the entire cast of Planetary Moe, which is a webcomic on deviantART by Rosel-D. Anyways, Planetary Moe is pretty much Hetalia, but with planets instead of countries :3 I would definitely recommend for you bros to check it out!**

**Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya**

**Planetary Moe belongs to Rosel-D**

**Arctic and the Philippines belong to PaintingMornings**

**Chicago belongs to kimchi121**

**Valentina belongs to Spliced-Kitten**

**Antarctica belongs to me**

**You belong to yourself**

**Anyways, please follow, favourite, and review!**

**Wuvs~**


	2. Chapter 1

**And voila; Chapter One of Mirror, Mirror! Nothing else to say here, so let's be moving right along! Oh, actually, the guest who reviewed with the planet headcanons… Yours were close to what I would have thought, but I'm just gonna go with the ones that Rosel-D created since I'm too lazy to invent my own characters ^^'**

* * *

Antarctica sighed heavily and stared out the window in the small, stuffy classroom. Their teacher was late… And had been late for the past thirty minutes. Most of the students had taken the opportunity to be loud and rambunctious, and one, a blonde, blue-eyed student, had even climbed up onto a desk, but Antarctica, Arctic, and Valentina, who were all in the same class together, just huddled together in a small, quiet knot at the back of the classroom. The Italian had snuggled into her jacket and dozed off, Arctic had pulled out her sketchbook and was toiling away busily in it, and Antarctica just stared blankly at the square patch of sky showing through the classroom window, already dreaming of the blessed moment when the bell that signalled the end of the day would ring.

Finally, when she felt the boredom about to consume her, Antarctica turned to face her kind-of sister.

"So… Um… You like to draw?"

Arctic nodded. "Yeah. I'm not as good as Veneziano, but… I'm getting there."

"Veneziano?" Her southern counterpart asked with a frown.

"Yup. You just met him. He's Italy; well, actually, North Italy, or Italy Veneziano. His brother's Italy Romano, South Italy, but we just call him Romano and we call Veneziano Italy. Too much of a mouthful otherwise." Arctic replied, smirking. Antarctica opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by their teacher literally jumping into the class.

LITERALLY.

She had wavy, longish black hair that was done in a messy bun at the back of her head, with an odd little flower growing out of the top of her head. With a grin that nearly split her face in half, the newcomer waved frantically at the class, even the one that was still standing on the desk.

"Hello, class! I'm Earth! I'm your history teacher!"

Valentina waved happily back in a motion that looked more like her arms had turned into inflatable flailing tubes of joy before whipping out a notebook and pen and beginning to sketch the teacher.

Antarctica facepalmed. "Nations as students and planets as teachers… Why the hell not?" She muttered.

Arctic shrugged and closed her notebook while Earth began to speak again, after ushering students back into their seats with many flapping hands.

"Hello, class! Welcome to Gakuen Hetalia! You're gonna have an awesome time here! Yay! We're gonna learn and have fun and do stuff and go insane-" She was cut off from her rant, which had become slightly alarming, by a woman with green eyes and long, blonde pigtails walking into the class, quite bit more sanely than Earth had.

She placed her hands on her hips. "Earth! I thought I told you to be serious here! This is a very important job we have and-"

The newcomer was interrupted by an enthusiastic glomp from Earth. "V-Chan! Say hi! Everyone, this is Venus, and she's the Guidance Counsellor!"

A few half-hearted, muttered greetings followed, while Antarctica facepalmed again. "They're like us… But better! Or worse, actually… It's kind of hard to tell…"

Arctic nodded slowly. "So, Earth and Venus... I wonder who else is here?" Meanwhile, Venus had managed to disentangle herself from Earth's grabby hug and rubbed her arm with a frown on her face before turning to face the class. "Well, as you can already tell, I am your guidance counsellor, Venus. At Gakuen Hetalia, we expect the highest standards from our students, and we have our resources to make this school year successful."

She motioned towards Earth, who grinned and waved again. "This is Earth. Not only is she your history teacher, but she is the school chef, as she is the only one of all of us that can actually cook." Venus coughed uncomfortably into her fist at some resurfacing memory. "I am in the office if you ever need me, as well as our Vice-Principal, Lady Milky Way, and our Principal, Mr. Universe."

The planet then began to ramble on about various expectations and rules before Earth awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Um, V-Chan… You have other classes to visit… You should probably go…"

As Venus equally awkwardly excused herself from the classroom, Earth turned back to face the class. "Right! History stuff! We have a big school gathering thingy soon, but we have time before that, so… Ancient Rome! Let's start with Ancient Rome! He's always been one of my favourites… Anybody know anything?"

Antarctica tentatively raised her hand, and Earth practically pounced on her. "Someone knows something! Great! Tell us everything!"

"Well… Um…" The continent began quietly. Someone at the front of the class yelled, "Speak up!" and Arctic glared at them as Antarctica ducked her head a bit, then began to speak a bit more loudly.

"Well, Ancient Rome's one of the younger ancients, only a couple hundred years older than me... But he was known for being the most ingenious, with the strongest sciences, and he was also the most... Sane, seeing as he was the most unified... Although he was usually cheerful, Ancient Rome had a brutal and vicious side that drove him to attack and control other ancients, whether they wanted it or not..."

Antarctica clamped her mouth shut and stopped talking after that, hiding her face in her arms in embarrassment.

"Good, good! Great intro!" Earth nodded, a serious look on her face. "He was actually one of my favorites of all the ancients, other than Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia. They were quite advanced for their time, and their Mythology was one of the most interesting... Ah, and Rome was also the one to give all the planets their names…Though the names don't match any of their namesakes." Earth chuckled. "Venus is pretty, but she's kinda punky. Don't tell her I said that, though!"

As Earth went on yet another ramble, Arctic leaned over and poked her sister curiously. "A couple hundred years older than you, eh? That would make you-"

"Two thousand three hundred and thirty-five, to be exact." Antarctica replied, her voice slightly muffled by her arms.

Arctic blinked. "Whoa."

"Yup."

"So, what happened all that time? I mean, you were only discovered in 1819-"

"1820," Antarctica corrected.

"1820, then. So, what happened in the cold and ice and penguins?"

The continent turned to look out the window. "I don't want to talk about it." She replied quietly, almost too quietly to hear.

Mostly unnoticed, Earth was still talking on about the Ancients until someone burst into the room.

"Earth! Earth!" It was some tall guy with wavy blonde hair and sparkly yellow eyes. "Have you seen my precious V-chan? I heard she was here, but she seems to have left!" Just then he noticed the class, who were still sitting, all either startled or asleep.

"Oh... Hello there, class! I'm Sol, your beautiful and magnificent Sun!" He flipped his hair, literally glowing with a warm golden light.

Once again, Valentina was the only one to wave back, and Sol smiled broadly at her. "Why, hello, there! Aren't I simply _radiant_?"

Arctic made a choking noise, while Antarctica frowned confusedly and fought off the urge to facepalm for a third time.

"A-another France?!"

Sol just laughed. "Oh, France? Earth told me about him once. I think he's a pretty nice guy." He laughed for a second time, then began to walk out the door after flipping his hair again. "Just tell me when you see V-chan again, okay? She seems to be avoiding me for some reason..." And with that, he exited the room, smiling to himself.

Not too much after they heard a delighted cry of "V-chan!" from Sol, followed by a yell from Venus.

"W-what? GET AWAY FROM ME SOL-"

Valentina giggled. "I like our teachers~"

"Speak for yourself," Arctic grumbled.

Antarctica blinked nervously. "I'm beginning to work about our teacher's sanity. Anybody else getting that feeling?"

Val shrugged. "Eh. They're funny. And nice. And not old and weird and stuffy like a lot of teachers, except for Venus, 'cause she's kinda stuffy, but she still seems pretty nice, so-"

The building rant was interrupted, by Earth, who was talking yet again. "Well, class, we're going to the gym for orientation to meet all of your teachers and school staff! So, everybody get up and pack your stuff, 'cause we're going to leave the class for the orientation!"

With a wave of grumblings and shifting chairs, the class rose to their feet, shoved various supplies into various bags, and filed haphazardly out the door and into the hallways. As they passed through, Antarctica looked into one of the classrooms and saw Romano writing profanities on the whiteboard while Italy tried to erase them. Stifling a snort, she turned her head back to the front and, turning a corner, walked into the gym, where there was a very large group of students and teachers already milling around.

Her eyes grew wide. "There must be all the countries here… Plus half the cities…" Antarctica murmured to herself.

Ignoring her, Arctic grabbed her sister's wrist and dragged her to a group of empty seats. Valentina followed, then Romano, Italy, the blonde person that had been standing on the desk in Antarctica's class, and someone new all popped up to join them.

Antarctica blinked. "Um… New people? Hello?"

Blondie plopped himself down beside her and offered a huge grin, along with a hand. The continent uncertainly shook it as Blondie introduced himself.

"Hey, dudette! I'm the U.S of A, also known as America, also known as the hero~!" He chirped, still grinning like an idiot, and Antarctica felt the corners of her mouth twitch into a smile.

The other boy leaned over from speaking to Val and punched America in the shoulder. "Dad. No. Please don't start your hero routine already."

The continent frowned. "You have a son…?"

America shrugged. "Ish. Kind of. That's Chicago, one of my cities."

"But… Valentina's one of Italy's cities and they're cousins…"

"Eh. I have no idea how that works. It just does, I suppose…" He said with a small frown.

Antarctica opened her mouth to reply, but stopped and turned to face the front when she saw that Earth seemed to be speaking with a small, slender, girl with dark blue hair. The blue-haired girl- who seemed to be about sixteen- walked over to a podium and timidly tapped the microphone.

"H-hello? Is this working- oh! Um, hi! Welcome to Gakuen Hetalia! I'm Luna, Earth's Moon and secretary, and I will be your host for today! Today, we shall present to you the staff of our school." She smiled quickly, and stepped to the side for Earth, who walked forwards, and, with a wide grin, took the stage.

"Hey everybody~! I'm Earth, your home Planet! I'm also the History teacher and chef, and I can cook all sorts of things to meet your multi-cultural needs!"

She fidgeted slightly and pointed to where a small group of people were standing, slightly awkwardly, in the corner of the stage.

"So, let's start with introducing your teachers! First up is Mercury!"

Earth stepped down, and a short, annoyed- looking man replaced her, blowing his choppy, overlong hair out of his face.

"Hi. Um. I'm Mercury, your..." He glanced at a card in his hand. "...er, your... MATH TEACHER?!" He yelled, facing Earth. "MATH?! I CAN'T TEACH MATH!"

Earth just shrugged, and Mercury sighed exasperatedly.

"Alright." he muttered. "I'm Mercury, your... Math teacher... First rule! Do not mock my shortness. Especially you, Titan." He glared at the moon, who stood close to the back. "Second of all, keep that bastard of a sun AWAY FROM ME. He's close enough already, and I don't need him any nearer. That is all!" With that, the planet daintily jumped off the podium, making room for the next planet.

"He's kinda pissy, isn't he?" America muttered in Antarctica's ear, and she stifled a snort.

"No kidding." She replied with a small smirk.

Next to the podium was Venus, who glared daggers at all the teachers before turning her slightly less baleful gaze onto the students. The planet cleared her throat loudly into the microphone. "Ahem." Glancing up to see if everybody was listening, she continued. "I am Venus, your Guidance Counsellor. First things first- out of all these... _dimwits_ that make up the Solar System, I am the most mature and should be treated as such. These idiots do not know how to take care of their homes, let alone a _classroom_, so that is why I am the only non-teacher of the eight of us. If any of you have a question, you may stop by the office. I will usually be available, and, if not, you may speak to Vice-Principal Lady Milky Way. Thank you." She bowed slightly, and stepped off the podium.

"Meh. Boring. But she reminds me of Iggy." America sighed. Antarctica frowned in confusion.

"Iggy?"

"England. I just call him that 'cause it annoys him."

"Ah."

Meanwhile, a short (but not as short as Mercury) teenager with dark red hair jumped onto the podium, practically ripping the microphone from its stand.

"HEY DUDES!" He bellowed happily into the microphone. "It's me, Mars! The one and only! I'm your science teacher for this totally awesome year! We'll have such a great time!" He laughed obnoxiously.

"My best friend is Venus! 'Cause she's totally awesome! And my other best friend is Earth! And Marty, too, my alien buddy!"

America suddenly stood up, almost jostling Antarctica out of her seat.

"OH MY GOD DUDE, YOU HAVE AN ALIEN FRIEND TOO?!"

"YOU MEAN YOU HAVE AN ALIEN FRIEND?!"

"YEAH DUDE! HIS NAME'S TONY AND WE'RE BEST BUDDIES!"

The two of them laughed, which created a somewhat creepy effect since they were practically identical, and Venus smacked her head on the table in exasperation.

After Mars hopped away, a very, _very_ tall man waltzed up onto the stage, a large grin plastered onto his face. The man had scratchy, dirty, gray hair and crimson eyes, which did a sweep of the entire gym before the owner of said eyes began to speak.

"Hello, Earthlings! I am Jupiter, and I will be your Civics teacher for the year! I hope we will all become very good friends. And please don't make me angry, or you will end up like Shoemaker-Levy 9! Also, Mercury will be my new moon."

He smiled happily at Mercury, who gave a squeak of fear.

Val poked Romano in the arm while staring up at Jupiter with wide eyes. "Cugino… What's Shoemaker-Levy 9?"

Hearing Valentina's question, Jupiter opened his mouth to say something- but not before Mars stood up and jabbed an accusing finger at Jupiter.

"_THAT CRUEL PLANET CRUSHED 'IM! SHOEMAKER LEVY 9 WAS AN INNOCENT COMET UNTIL JUPITER PULLED 'IM IN WITH HIS GRAVITY!" _The enraged planet pointed madly at himself. "_HE WAS THE ONE THAT MADE ME SHORT! CRUEL, I TELL YOU… CRUEL!"_

Jupiter grinned innocently at Mars.

"Oh, Mars, you and Mercury would make great moons of mine. You cannot resist my gravity... Too bad there is a wall in the way." He said with a childlike smile.

"S-SHUT UP!"

Valentina giggled, watching the two planets argue, while Antarctica just sighed heavily. The day had barely begun, and already, she was feeling the leaden weights of exhaustion make her limbs and mind heavy and slow…

Yet another planet walked up to the podium, his face covered with a blank and bored expression as he held what seemed like large rings at his sides. He had long, white hair that seemingly shone with internal light, and dull eyes that scanned the crowed, one eyebrow raised slightly. "Hello." He said in a monotone. "I am Saturn, and I am your art teacher." Saturn paused, then silently got off the stage.

"Well, isn't he just a barrel full of monkeys?" Antarctica muttered sarcastically, and it was America's turn to stifle his laughter.

Val yawned. "… How many are left…?"

"Um..." Arctic counted on her fingers. "Well, the other main planets left are Uranus and Neptune, but there may be more-"

There was suddenly a scuffle of noise up on stage.

"Neptune. Listen to your older brother."

"W-what? No! I'm not going up on stage! LET GO OF ME."

"You're the youngest and-""NO! Uranus, I'm not a baby anymore-!"

Two planets stumbled onto the stage, both sporting bold blue hair. The one with lighter hair and dull eyes was dragging the one with darker hair and hair pins, the latter struggling to get out of his elder brother's grip.

Uranus- the lighter-haired one- took the microphone in his free hand.

"Hello. I am Uranus-" There were a couple of immature giggles from the crowd at the mention of his name, causing his face to darken slightly- "-And I will be your gym teacher for the year." He patted his little brother affectionately on the head.

"And this is my little brother, Neptune. He is in gym with me."

There was a grumble, and Neptune muttered, "And I thought I was supposed to introduce myself..."

After a brief struggle, the two managed to walk offstage without killing themselves or anybody else.

Earth hopped back to the podium, fiddling with some paperwork.

"Uh... is that it?" Asked Mercury, who was tapping a foot impatiently.

"No..." Earth flipped through a few more pages. "But I don't remember who... Is he even here? I didn't notice another person."

"Well," Mars began, "He could be smaller than Mercury, 'cause Mercury is so small and we can't even see him-"

"DON'T MOCK MY VERTICALLY CHALLENGED SELF! WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT IF YOU'RE NO TALLER?!"

"-Or he could've been crushed by Jupiter 'CAUSE HE'S SO FREAKING BIG-"

"Nope!" Jupiter replied cheerfully. "No crashes since Shoemaker-Levy 9..."

"-Then who could it be?" Mars finished.

"Um..." A voice piped up, and a hand popped up from the very back of the group. The ninth, and final, teacher made his way to the front. He was short, and he had white pinkish hair with a little curl on to. The small planet looked shyly at the rest of the planets- and countries- assembled.

"Who are you?" Venus asked, not unkindly.

"...I'm Pluto... the English teacher..."

Arctic frowned. "Pluto, eh? I wonder why everyone's forgetting him… Oh, that's right!" She snapped her fingers. "He became a dwarf planet not too long ago, so that must be why nobody remembers…"

Antarctica harrumphed. "That decision was half-assed, and scientists know it. Pluto will never be forgotten. _Never._" She hissed, and her sister blinked nervously.

"Tica… You okay?"

"I like astronomy. Now shush."

Back up on the stage, Earth took the podium with a large grin. "Well, that's everybody! I think! I hope! So, now we have a little meet-and-greet scheduled, so… Go and meet people! Be sure to greet them, too!"

And with that, the bubbly planet was off the stage and lost in the crowd.

Antarctica sighed. _I'll never last the day… Let alone the whole year…_

* * *

**Woot! Chapter one, and in record time! Bow down to the master of working 'till one o'clock in the morning!**

**But GODDAMNIT I'm tired now -.- And I still had to finish it off this morning…**

**Well, this is kind of an intro chapter for the teachers and planets… A lot of their dialogue and stuff belongs to PaintingMornings, I just made a few changes here and there because she knows the characters a helluva lot better than I do ^^'**

**Thanks to the reviews from Spliced-Kitten, PaintingMornings, and PrussianLlamaCat! (Yes, PM and Llamacat are the same person but oh well -.-)**

**Also, thank you to CheesieBirdie for randomly coming along and doing both a favourite and a follow! Completely unexpected but completely appreciated \^w^/**

**You know da drill~!**

**Wuvs~**


	3. Chapter 2

**I'm on a ROLL! Woot! Two chapters in two days!**

**Gotta love Winter Break XD**

**Anyways, hobey-ho, here we go! Infinite internet cookies to anybody that gets the reference!**

* * *

"Right."

Arctic frowned at the giant mob of people.

"Who should we go see first?"

The small group of Nations, cities, and continent, composed of Antarctica, Arctic, Romano, Italy, Valentina, America, and Chicago, were all huddled together in a knot, staring at the crushing flood of other Nations and finding mental excuses for not going in.

"Well…" Antarctica began, musing. "Pluto seemed to be the sanest out of all of them, and besides, he needs to know that he isn't forgotten. He needs to know that he's _loved._"

Arctic swatted her on the arm. "Shush with your weird astronomy fantasies."

"They aren't _that _weird!" Her sister protested. "Anyways, wouldn't you rather see Pluto above the other wackos?"

"…. Yeah…" Arctic muttered, and the continent grinned happily.

"Well, let's get going, then!" And with that, she plunged into the horde, the group following her.

Ten minutes later, they managed to burst out the other side.

"Fratello… It was really stinky and hot and ew in there…" Italy whined, grabbing at Romano's sleeve while the other Italian attempted to shake him off.

"Go away, fratellino!"

"Wait… Guys… We lost the Americans…" Antarctica said with a frown.

Arctic shrugged. "Eh. They'll survive. They're American idiots, remember? They can just shoot their way out of there."

_I didn't think that America was an idiot, _Antarctica thought before simply shrugging.

They walked over to where Pluto was sitting at a little desk and finishing up a conversation with someone that looked nearly exactly like America, except with darker eyes, longer hair, and an odd little curly strand poking out.

"That's Canada… Makes sense that they'd be talking…" Arctic hissed in Antarctica's ear, and she nodded.

Pluto glanced up, seemingly surprised to see the group of students, and then smiled softly. "H-hi there! I'm Pluto… Nice to meet you!"

Val waved back happily, while her cousins discovered the buffet table and wandered away towards it. "Hi! I'm Valentina! Nice to meet you too!"

An awkward flush crept up Pluto's cheeks. "I-I'm sorry… Earth said something about all the students being personifications of countries… Which country are you?"

The Italian giggled. "Oh, I'm not a country, I'm a city in Italy called Milan. I wish I was a country, though…"

Arctic stepped forward. "And I don't even know what I'm supposed to be… A region? A general area? The name's Arctic, by the way." She stuck out a hand and Pluto shook it with a smile, then turned to Antarctica.

"And you?"

She blushed. "I'm not really a country either… I'm a continent, Antarctica… You're the English teacher, right?"

He nodded. "Yes… Earth just kind of put us all in random subjects, but I'm not bad, I suppose… I read a lot of Earth's literature in my spare time…" The planet paused, looking at his watch. "I'm sorry, but I need to go… Charon needs something… Another time, then?"

"I guess we'll see you in English class," Antarctica replied with a grin. The planet smiled back, and then he was gone.

The continent turned to face the rest of their group. Arctic sighed, stomped over to Romano and grabbed his wrist, dragging him back while Val resorted to a series of hugs and baiting with food to get Italy to rejoin them.

"Right. We're all here?" Antarctica asked, somewhat rhetorically, then plowed on without waiting for a response. "Good. So… Who should we go see next?" She eyed the plague of people infesting the room. "Because I _really _don't want to go back in there."

"Um…" Arctic began. "Mars is over there, so…" She pointed to where the crown of the planet's head was just barely visible behind Mercury. "And besides, I'm not sure that I want to talk to the Spaz,"

"I agree," The continent responded with a shudder, then walked over, dodged Mercury, who was getting dragged away by Jupiter, and tapped Mars on the shoulder.

Mars jumped, immediately going into defensive mode, slashing madly at the air.

"AH! WHO GOES THERE?! GHOST! FEAR ME! I HAVE NINJA SKILLS EARTH TAUGHT ME-" he suddenly stopped when he realized there was no intruder or ghost, but instead a student.

"Oh! Uh, hey! I'm Mars! You must be a student!" he laughed. "Well, you've come to talk to me? That's awesome!"

Antarctica gave him a weird look before responding with, "Hi… I'm Antarctica, the grump over here is my sister, Arctic, and the trio of Italians are Valentina, Romano, and Italy."

"Great! I'm Mars!" The planet responded with a megawatt grin, sticking out a hand to shake.

"You already said that, idiot," Arctic muttered, but shook his hand nonetheless.

At the back of the group, Romano sighed angrily and walked away. Arctic noticed this, and while Mars and Val began to strike up a conversation about weather and some mountain called Olympus Mons, she hurried after the irritated Italian with a scowl on her face. Antarctica, after a moment's hesitation, followed, then hid behind the broad back of someone to listen in on their conversation.

Arctic reached out and grabbed Romano's wrist. "Get back here. We're going to have to see them in class, anyways." She said exasperatedly.

The Italian yanked his arm away and crossed them over his chest defensively. "I don't care. They're all idiots."

She frowned at Romano. "So? You're gonna be stuck in the classroom with them for the rest of the year. May as well get it over with now."

Something tapped Antarctica on the back of the head and she nearly jumped out over her skin, then quickly looked up to see America staring curiously down at her.

"Um… Why are you hiding behind my back…?"

An embarrassed flush crept up the continent's cheeks and she ducked her head. "Kind of stalking my sister…"

A pair of fingers slipped under her chin and tilted her face back up towards the American. Antarctica blushed even harder, and America grinned widely, obviously not sensing the mood.

"The commie bastard's over there and he's a lot better to hide behind than me… How about we stalk your sister from behind him?"

With a grateful smile, the continent quickly pulled her head away from America's hand and they crept over to a tall Russian, concealing themselves behind his long coat. In front of them, Arctic's conversation with Romano continued.

Romano just glared and turned away, while Antarctica's sister sighed in exasperated defeat. "They really aren't bad; they're kind of like our friends, aren't they? Pluto's similar to… What's his name… Oh, Canada! Pluto's like Canada, and Mars is nearly exactly like America…. But let me guess- you hate them all."

The Italian rolled his eyes. "The art teacher. He seemed enthusiastic."

"Uh-huh. Very funny." Arctic replied sarcastically. "Seriously, Romano, you need to lighten up. You're always like this! Has there ever been a time when you haven't been sarcastic, cursing, or throwing an insult?!"

"When I'm asleep." The Italian replied shortly, beginning to wander over towards the buffet table.

Arctic followed after him, and Antarctica and America slipped from the Russian to another tall man with short, blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and glasses.

"I doubt that," She replied, beginning to look irritated. "Even then, you're probably insulting Germany and Spain in your sleep, calling them 'potato bastard' and 'tomato bastard', or whatever you say."

"They're both bastards," Romano replied over his shoulder, walking off. That time, Arctic didn't follow, and sighed to herself tiredly while Val popped up out of nowhere, giggling.

"Lovino's so weird~" She said with a grin.

Arctic huffed. "He annoys me."

"Well…" The Italian paused, like she was considering something. "Roma's an idiota. But he doesn't mean to be."

Arctic's frown deepened. "I know that... but- but it just really irks me seeing him like this! I don't know why! I hate seeing him all grumpy and angry and so... dismissive of everything! I just- I just want to smack him on the head and say 'SMILE FOR ONCE YOU IDIOT.' And it makes me feel WEIRD for some reason. Ugh." She rubbed her forehead. "Is there something wrong with me?"

Val's grin widened. "It just sounds like you want him to be happier!"

Arctic scowled and sat back on one of the chairs, watching the group around them. Italy was following a tall, muscular man with slicked-back blonde hair like a puppy while Romano stomped over to Chicago, who was talking loudly with someone else, and tried to get him to quiet down. "Ugh. I guess. I just can't seem to shake it off… Nevermind."

She stood and walked over to where Romano and Chicago were 'talking'. Placing her hands on her helps, she grinned at Chicago. "Hey, Chicago." Arctic then nodded at the Italian. "Romano."

Romano crossed his arms and glared back. "What do you want?"

Arctic mirrored his pose. "For you to liven up for a change. Idiot."

**(A/N And behold… The battle of the tsunderes XD)**

"Why the hell does it matter? I'm not going to change. Deal with it." The Italian shot back.

"Why not? Anybody can change, even you. Or are you just too scared?" Arctic taunted with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes at Arctic, obviously annoyed. "Why would I be scared? I'm not going to change because I _don't want to."_ Romano replied. He glared at her and turned around, pushing past Chicago and walking to the exit.

Arctic huffed. "That bastard…" Flipping the bird at Romano's back, she turned and marched in the other direction.

Antarctica and America just stood there quietly. Antarctica's eyes flitted with increasing rapidity between Arctic and Romano. "Do you think...?"

America nodded, being solemn for once. "Without a doubt." And together, they trailed after their group of friends.

When they reached them, Arctic was staring pensively up at the clock. "When do you think the bell's going to ring…?"

The bell rung, and Antarctica punched her sister on the shoulder with a wide grin. "You psychic or something, eh?"

Arctic grunted. "Sure. Anyways. You'd better get going."

The continent's grin faltered, and she turned and headed to her next class, waving a quick goodbye to America and Chicago.

Exactly seven minutes later, she was sitting in art class and feeling extraordinarily awkward. Through some trick of the universe, Antarctica, Arctic, Val, and Romano were all in the same class together, and while Val stared eagerly up at Saturn, waiting for class to begin, Arctic and Romano were studiously ignoring each other while Antarctica sat as far away from them as possible and buried her nose in a book, hoping desperately that they wouldn't erupt in the middle of the classroom.

"When can we start? I really really wanna draw something!" Valentina finally burst out, and Saturn turned to face her with his dull eyes.

"Well… Since this is only the very first day, I want you all to draw something simple, but to the best of your abilities. I would like to use these as a reference for your skill level. You may begin.''

The Italian grinned hugely, chirped "Thanks~!" and immediately put pencil to paper, sketching out the outline of what appeared to be Saturn. Arctic grumbled something to herself and looked like she zoned out while her hand absentmindedly traced over her blank sheet, while Antarctica just sighed and stared dully at her own paper.

_Art's never been my strong spot… What should I do, then…? _Giving up on trying to decide, the continent just began to draw the outline of one of her old favourites; a white, serpentine river dragon that she had seen in a movie once.

A little ways away from her, Arctic let out a choking noise, and her paper fell to the ground from stiff fingers. Not able to help herself, Antarctica peeked over.

She had drawn Romano.

Oh.

_Oh._

Romano's eyes flicked to the sound of rustling paper, and he bent down to pick it up. After examining the drawing for a few moments, the Italian glared at Arctic.

"First, you make it fuckin' obvious you hate me, then you draw me? I don't understand what your problem is." He hissed, keeping it so quiet that Antarctica could barely hear.

Arctic made a weird noise. "P-k-eahg! I-I-I never meant to! It-it just happened! GIVE IT BACK." Reaching out with a furious flush, she snatched the paper from Romano's hands. "I-it's mine!"

Sighing, the Italian looked away and leaned back in his seat, although he didn't quite look angry anymore.

"Sorry…" Arctic muttered in a barely audible voice.

Romano stiffened, then, after a moment's hesitation, replied, "Don't apologize, idiota…"

Arctic just fingered with her pencil. "Why not? I was a jerk. You just always act like that... I'm such an idiot."

Romano glared at her, even though she was not facing him. He looked at the blank page before him and muttered a near incomprehensible "No, you're not."

With the tiniest smirk, Antarctica scribbled _Just kiss already! _on a tiny sheet of paper and tossed it over to Arctic.

Her sister noticed, unfolded it, and read the slip, her eyes widening. "What!? What the heck? NO."

Antarctica still had the grin on her face. _You know you want to... I mean, look at him! He obviously likes you! Didn't he just kind of apologize? This is Romano we're talking about..._ She wrote on a slightly larger piece of paper, then tossed it over.

_A moment later, the sheet landed back, with something new written on it. __He doesn't like me! I guess he did apologize __which was kinda nice I guess__ but I don't understand how that means he likes me!_

Antarctica scribbled something back. _Think about it. He's Romano. He never apologizes or compliments anybody, not Italy, not Spain, nobody. He apologized to you. He's telling you that you're not an idiot. It's not exactly hard to figure out, from my point of view_. Tossing it back over, making sure that Saturn wasn't looking, she continued to work on her draconian figure carefully, staying neutrally silent.

The paper arrived back almost immediately. _Yeah, I guess, but- _there were many crossed out words- _it could mean he's changing_

_Or something..._

_I DON'T KNOW, OKAY_

The continent smirked and left it at that. A little ways away, Romano let a sigh escape his lips and leaned back, shaking his head slightly to get some hair out of his eyes.

Arctic glanced at Romano. "Stop shaking your head like that. It makes your hair look funny."

The Italian snorted in reply, and messed it up on purpose. He raised an eyebrow.

A slight smile tugged at her lips, and Arctic raised an eyebrow back at him. "What?"

Romano just shrugged back, and in her little matchmaking corner, Antarctica let a smile twitch at her lips before getting back to work, and for the rest of the boring day stayed quiet. Classes droned by at an impossibly slow rate, Arctic and Romano had more awkward conversations, and Mercury had a fit during math class, but above all, the highlight of the day was when it ended.

_Finally. I can get back to doing what I have to._

* * *

**Hmmm… What is this mysterious thing that Antarctica has to do…?**

**Anyways, fellow rpers, I am fully aware that I skipped over a crapton of stuff but I'll just include it in the next chapter; not too much can happen in one day, can it? And besides, I wanted to update and I'll be too tired tomorrow to do it -.-**

**And to people who aren't fellow rpers… Hope you enjoyed the fluff! To cracky fluff fans, there'll be plenty more next chapter :3 To angst fans… There'll be lots of that coming up too… And to action fans, there will be quite a bit later on, but we need to get through all the boring character building first… So bear with me~!**

**Thank you to Anime-Lover985 for favouriting and following, IOU1882 for following, a pirates life for Ellie for following, and PrussianLlamaCat for your unusually non-cracky, serious review :D**

**Thanks a bunch to all you bros! You deserve the very best, and I'm doing what I can to bring it to you~**

**Please review, favourite, and follow!**

**Wuvs~**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello, all my luvverlies! Imma baaaaccckkk~! Sorry for the wait, I couldn't really muster up the willpower to write for a coupla days after New Year's and I wanted to wait until I finished the chapter for my other running fic before I posted this…**

**Well, here you go~!**

* * *

The first thing that Antarctica did when she got back into her apartment was close the heavy door behind her with a sigh, slouching against it from exhaustion and slight exasperation. Her bus home was packed full of loud, overly energetic students of all ages and she was forced to stand, clutching desperately onto a pole and willing her clumsy feet not to slip out from under her.

The second thing was hastily inhaling a dinner consisting of some grilled salmon and a simple salad, washed down with a tall glass of water.

Once the continent had finished, she retired to her cramped room with a sigh and, plopping herself down with a sigh, pulled out a black notebook from a drawer in her bedside table.

Antarctica flipped to the most recent page and scanned the words without much interest.

_Let's see… I've already proven that impact at a high velocity does nothing other than hurt… I'm not trying that again… _She flipped back a bit. _All cuts heal themselves quickly, even in the most vital areas, and… _Antarctica turned the page forward. _If I keep the cut open, my marrow produces blood cells too quickly for bleeding out, so that's not an option…_

An idea came to her and the continent opened the notebook at the beginning. _Overdose was one of the first things that I tried, but… What about a natural hormone? What if I give myself an overdose of that?_

Antarctica skimmed over her notebook's pages, and a slow grin spread across her face. _I haven't tried it yet! Now, let's give this a go…_

Standing, the continent padded across her room and into the bathroom, where she opened the medicine cabinet and observed the small shelves heaping with pill bottles.

_No… Those are the pills that the doctor prescribed for Multiple Personality Disorder… Not that they do anything for my problem… Aha! _Antarctica's hand shot out and she grabbed a small bottle on the highest shelf. _Here's the only natural hormone I have… Melatonin._

She quickly looked at the recommended dose. _One to three pills per night, eh? _

Antarctica tipped eight out into her hand, and, replacing the bottle, quickly downed them all with the aid of the water left in her glass.

_That shouldn't be nearly enough to do the job, but it should at least have an effect on how much I sleep… Melatonin is the chemical that puts you to sleep, so theoretically, I should wake up later if I have more…_

Smiling a bit to herself, Antarctica went back to her room and got changed, carefully avoiding to look in her mirror as always. Returning to the bathroom, the continent swiftly brushed her teeth and washed her face, hissing as the soapy water ran into her eyes, then hopped into her bed, with its stale sheets and lumpy mattress, hoping desperately to sleep through the night and more.

Hoping that after months of experimentation, her efforts would finally pay off.

* * *

As Antarctica blinked open her eyes, the sunlight streaming in through her window, she winced at the bright light, then sat up and checked her clock.

7:30.

The exact same time that she usually awoke.

"Goddamnit!"

Frustrated, the continent yanked her sheets to the side and stood, then hurriedly dressed herself and snarfed down her breakfast **((A/N Snarfed… I love that word XD)) **before throwing various school supplies into her bag and rushed out the door, not wanting to be late for the bus.

_Damn… I really need to start waking up earlier, if only to not have to rush like this for the stupid bus…_

As it turned out, the bus was about ten minutes late and the continent barely restrained herself from swearing at the driver, a dopey, fat man with patches of stubble and sleepy brown eyes. She sat tensely on the edge of her seat, face concealed with her jacket's hood as the continent schooled her thoughts into the cheerful, quirky mask she put on for her friends to see.

When the bus pulled in at the stop by Gakuen Hetalia, Antarctica flashed a happy grin at the confused driver before hopping off and jogging towards the school, not wanting to be late.

She wasn't.

Barely.

Antarctica ran into her first class of the day, English, and sat herself down beside Romano, seeing as there were no other places to sit. Arctic, on the other side of the room, glared at them both for a few moments before huffing, slightly indignantly, and turning to face the front of the class.

Pluto, the ever-unnoticed English teacher, walked into the classroom with a smile and had to tap on the blackboard several times to get everyone's attention.

""Hello class! Welcome to English. So! For your first assignment of the year, we'll start with a prompt." He took out a bucket full of paper and dug a hand through it, coming up with a small shred. Unfolding it, Pluto read, "Your prompt will be... a secret crush! That would be interesting." He smiled at the class. "Now, you have the rest of class to write at least one page's worth of writing. You don't have to turn it in- just show me you've done it, and I'll give you the credit. Let your creative juices flow! Starting now!"

"Oh god NO." Antarctica hear Arctic moan, while she herself simply headdesked several times before straightening up.

_Well… I do like to write… And it might be interesting to do, at the very least… I may as well… _Frowning in determination, the continent pulled out a sheet of paper and her pencil before beginning to write, not bothering to think about what she was writing, just putting down her thoughts.

'How does one define a crush? Is it someone that makes your heart pound like mad, makes a blush slip to your face whenever you see them? Or is a crush someone that you simply find endearing, that you wouldn't mind getting to know a little better? How would one know that they have a crush?...' Steadily, the words flowed out onto the paper as Antarctica's pencil scratched away, writing about a subject that she had next to no experience with, occasionally glancing up and around the class as she wrote.

'Sometimes,' Antarctica continued. 'A crush can be someone that you had met only yesterday. Sometimes, a crush can be someone that you have no idea about, but feel like you've known for years. Now, I can't say that I have crush on anyone. Liking someone isn't one of those things that can be tested or measured in any way recognizable to the brain. You like someone, or you don't. But at which point is there a line between friendship and something more? And how can you tell whether you've crossed that line or not? It is an abstract art, and can be interpreted in hundreds of ways. Whether I have a secret crush or not... I cannot say.'

_Hm. _The continent chewed on her pencil. _Was that enough beating around the bush? I mean, I don't actually have a crush, so… _Unbidden, the image of America flashed to her mind before Antarctica quashed it ruthlessly. _NOPE. There's no way that he would like be back- wait, did I actually just think 'like me back'? I DO NOT LIKE HIM._

Sighing exsperatedly at herself, Antarctica finished off her paper, adding a few extra details and correcting grammar in a few places. Glancing over at Romano's page, which had only his name and a couple of choppy lines, her mouth twisted in sympathy. The continent swiftly scribbled something on a note, then passed it over. _Start off with why you like the person that you do. Do they make you smile? Do they make you fight? And if there's nobody, say why. Leave nothing out and write whatever detail comes into your mind. Don't forget the why._

Romano glared angrily at her, but then sighed and tucked the note under his desk, glancing at it occasionally as he began to write, a bit faster this time.

Beginning to feel bored, Antarctica began to look around the classroom, tapping her fingers on her desk. Arctic was blushing like mad as she wrote, whether she realized it or not, and the continent smirked as a wide variety of possible writing subjects came to her mind, some of them weird or just plain wrong... _Ahh... Having a bit of a perverted mind can be fun sometimes..._

Before the continent knew it, the highly irritating bell that signalled the end of class sounded and, after handing in her work to Pluto, Antarctica shuffled out of class along with all the other students, heading to a most likely dull Gym class with the pair of Gas Giant brothers, Uranus and Neptune.

It was anything but dull.

The class was playing dodgeball, possibly Antarctica's favourite game in the universe.

Smirking to herself, the continent picked up a pair of balls and retreated to the far wall, waiting for Neptune to blow the starting whistle.

_Now, if this school is like any other one that I've been too, the people on the other team will look at me and see a weak, tall girl who looks practically anorexic._

And, right on schedule, the assholes opposite her began to call out.

"Hey there, chicken legs!"

"You gonna just run and hide, stick girl?"

"Hey! Ya might vant to eat zhat ball; looks like it'll be zhe only food ya get all year, frau!" A muscular albino with a winning smirk called. Antarctica's grin widened.

_You'll be first._

The whistle sounded, and the balls began flying. Antarctica hovered in the middle of her team's side, eyes tracking the albino, waiting for the perfect moment. Unconsciously, her usually icy blue eyes whitened slightly, becoming just a shade or two paler as a wicked, almost cruel smirk spread across her face.

_I'm not just a country, idiot._

A ball came whipping her way and she easily curved her body around it, not losing concentration for a moment.

_I'm a continent._

Spying the albino near the back, having run out of balls, Antarctica drew her arm back in preparation to launch the ball.

_And that means…_

A flood of strength from some unknown reserve poured into her arms and the continent launched the ball as hard as she possibly could, rocketing it across the gym where it slammed into the wall right beside the albino's head, creating a rather large dent and sending chips of concrete and paint flying in all directions.

_That I'm strong. Stronger than you, stronger than virtually everyone._

The gym fell silent.

The albino looked like he was about to piss himself.

Grinning widely, Antarctica waved cheerily at him before picking up another ball.

"Which one of you assholes wants to be next?"

After a pause, her team cheered, and with the continent on their side, they completely dominated the other team until the bell rang.

Antarctica didn't feel sorry about what she did.

Not for a moment.

Not until, leaving the class to head to lunch, the continent's eyes darkened to their usual tone of blue and she reeled back from realization.

_I could have killed him. I could have killed him, with a freaking dodgeball. I nearly did._

Her gaze hardened. _This is exactly why I do… Why I do what I have to. I'm not letting something like that happen again._

Pasting a small smile back onto her face, Antarctica spotted America and Valentina chatting at a table in a cafeteria and went over to join them.

The continent plopped herself down in a seat beside the pair, groaning. "That... Essay... Was... HORRIBLE..." She moaned, resting her arms on the table and burying her face in them.

"Huh?" America asked with a frown. "An essay? They're boring, but… It couldn't have been that bad… And besides, that Pluto guy's pretty cool, isn't he? What did he make you do?"

She banged her forehead against the table, saying a word with each thump. "We. Had. To. Write. About. Our. Secret. Crushes. It. Was. Not. Fun."

America snorted loudly. "HA! Secret crushes?! SERIOUSLY?! That'd be hysterical! HAHAHA!" He fell into a burst of laughter, clutching at his chest.

Antarctica growled and punched America in the shoulder, forgetting about her strength and nearly sending him flying out of the chair. "Oops... Anyways, you don't know what it was like... You don't even have a secret crush at all, do you?" She asked, cheeks flushed with annoyance.

America jumped back up and into his seat, grinning happily as if nothing had happened.

"Ah, it's okay, dude! It didn't hurt at all! Well, kinda..." He then blinked at Antarctica's question. "A crush?" America thought about it for exactly 2.4 seconds.

"Nope! Heroes are too busy for that kinda thing! We get our loves by rescuing them from a burning fire! Or a sinking ship!" He said, laughing.

"Of course," Antarctica grumbled, looking away while fighting down a blush. **((A/N Oh, America… You idiot…))**

America grinned, completely unaware of what was going on.

Arctic, tired of sulking alone in the corner, dragged her stuff towards her friends, dumped it on a nearby desk, and flopped herself onto it.

"Hey guys." she said dryly.

Antarctica smiled and looked away from America's annoyingly endearing eyes_- Wait. What the hell did I just think?! Shut up, mind._ She groaned silently before speaking to Arctic.

"Hey, Arctic. How are you?"

Arctic grunted. "That's what everyone's asking, it seems."

"We're just asking 'cause we're worried, li'l sis..." Antarctica said softly, then frowned. "Wait... Are you even my little sister? You kind of seem like one..."

Arctic managed a smile. "Ah, it's okay if you call me your little sister." She sighed tiredly. "Just... My mind's kinda... Weird right now. Don't know why."

Antarctica beamed and air-hugged Arctic. "Thanks, li'l sis! Don't worry, I'm sure the weirdness will pass."

Arctic returned the air-hug, smiling affectionately. "Thanks, big sis."

The continent laughed lightly. "No problem! But, honestly, if you ever want to talk about anything like that, just say so. I promise to listen, not to judge, and to help if I can. Okay?"

Arctic smiled. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."

As they air-hugged, Antarctica happened to look over at America, saw sparks of approval in his eyes, immediately blushed, and looked away. _GODDAMNIT YOU STUPID AMERICAN why do you have to play with my feelings like this without even meaning to….? _The continent gritted her teeth in frustration.

Arctic pulled away from the hug, and her eyes flickered with concern. "'Tica? Are you okay?"

She regained her smile, although it was a bit shaky. "Yeah, I'm fine! Just thinking about all the math homework I'll be getting this year..."

Her sister shrugged. "Fine. It can't be that much, though."

_I am most definitely not thinking about math homework…_

_Why does life do this to me?_

_America doesn't even know that I…_

_That I killed one of his people._

* * *

**Angst (ish) and drama (ish)! Woot!**

**And yes, I am very much aware of what Antarctica is doing to herself ^^'**

**Don't worry, it'll all get resolved sooner or later…**

**Thank you a billion times to Mio-San, who favourite, followed, AND gave me an insanely nice review! You, my friend, are freaking awesome X3**

**Thank you also to PrussianLlamacat, my fanfiction friend, for giving me a slightly cracky review; you both really made me smile :3**

**Anyways, updates will be coming a crapton slower, now that school's nearly started up and I doubt I'll be able to finish the next two chapters today and tomorrow…**

**DAMN YOU SCHOOL**

**So, please review, favourite, and follow~!**

**Wuvs~**


	5. Don't Get Excited

Hi everyone~

I just wanted to inform all you lovely people that I will be leaving fanfiction for an indefinite amount of time... This means no updates, no pm replies, no review responses. I'm really sorry about this, and I know it's like I'm suddenly dropping off the face of the earth, but... I'm just really sorry.

I have my reasons, of course. I'm not going to get into the details, but let's just say that I have a lot going on in my life at the moment, and I honestly can't handle another thing to think about right now. You guys are amazing, and this hopefully temporary hiatus is in no way caused by a lack of support. I love every single person that reads/reviews/even looks at my work and for taking the time out of their day to glance over at what I've written, but at this moment... I just can't deal with it...

PaintingMornings/PrussianLlamaCat, you were my first friend on this site and my first over-the-internet buddy. You were also the first consistent supporter of When the Clock Stops, and you are just such an amazing person 3

You deserve a billion reviews, and more :3 (Lame compliment, but oh well)

IOU1882, you're the person that makes me think and is never afraid to give me their ideas, which have actually improved my general plotness and characters in general :3 Your work on Joan of Arc has given me real insight into her story and history, and has made her character so much more complex. Thank you a ton for helping me, whether you realized it or not 3

There are so many more people that I need to thank, but those are the two that have contributed the most and given me the most drive too keep on writing.

Thank you, everybody, and I'm sorry for leaving...

GOD this is getting cheesy :/

Anyways

Ciao! I'll hopefully hear all your luvverly voices again soon~

Wuvs~


End file.
